Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to increase the number of patients with (a) suspected and (b) confirmed rare cancers who have access to treatments through clinical trials of medications currently approved for other indications.

The Department is committed to ensuring that all patients, including those with rare cancers, have access to cutting-edge clinical trials, including trials where medicines are repurposed, as well as innovative, lifesaving treatments.

The Department is working to fast-track clinical trials to drive global investment into life sciences, improve health outcomes, and accelerate the development of medicines and therapies of the future, including for rare cancers. The Department invests £1.6 billion each year on research through its research delivery arm, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). NIHR research expenditure for all cancers was £133 million in 2023/24, reflecting its high priority.

The forthcoming National Cancer Plan will include further details on how we will improve outcomes for cancer patients across the country, including patients with rare cancers. It will ensure that more patients have access to the latest treatments and technology, and to clinical trials.

The Government also supports the Rare Cancers Bill and its ambitions to incentivise clinical trials and access to innovative treatments for rare cancers.